DeepSeek downloads have been suspended on app stores in South Korea amid a privacy review, the country’s data protection authority has announced.
According to Seoul’s Personal Information Protection Commission, DeepSeek’s R1 artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot will not be available for downloads across app stores until its data collection practices have been reviewed.
DeepSeek itself has admitted to not complying with certain local data protection rules laid out by the PIPC. The popular chatbot will return to app stores once corrective measures have been taken which, the PIPC says, “would inevitably take a significant amount of time”.
The development comes just days after South Korea restricted DeepSeek at its defence and trade ministries at the data watchdog’s request. Last week, the authority asked the Chinese startup for information on how it manages personal data.
Those who downloaded DeepSeek before its removal, however, can still access and use the app.
Since its launch this year, DeepSeek has shaken up the global AI industry. But a number of countries have raised concerns about how it handles users’ personal data, with Italy being the first to ban the chatbot last month. Australia has also blocked the AI platform on official devices.
Taiwan has followed suit, banning DeepSeek from government agencies, citing risks to “national security”. In the US, Texas was the first state to restrict its use on federal devices.
